Chapter Text
Out of all the time that Katsuki spent in his bedroom, early morning was always his favorite. The sunlight was blinding by the afternoon, but in the morning it shot through the curtain just right and painted the warm bedroom walls in the most beautiful pastel colors. There were many days that he would wake early just to watch the sun rising over the tops of the buildings on the skyline, each one slowly being illuminated by the golden yolk of the sun.
Today, Katsuki thought he might have stopped to admire it, if only he hadn’t woken up with the worst splitting headache he’d had in months. His eyes were barely open as he breezed into the kitchen, hands still fumbling with his shirt buttons. Reaching for his usual coffee mug, his fingers brushed against the cleaned chew toys gently propped up on the sink’s edge and sighed when one fell to the floor, the soft plastic breaking in half.
Kirishima’s rut must be coming soon, the idiot alpha always destroyed his favorite chews right before it, complaining that his fangs ached the whole time. The blonde scoffed to himself as he packed ground coffee into his pot, setting it over the stove flame. He’d make a stop on his way back from the lab, before the redhead had time to truly mourn the toy. Fucking stupid second genders and all their dumb instincts that overruled their very brains.
Sometimes, though not often, Katsuki wondered what it was like to have that urge, that pull that people talked about. To feel another conscious push its way to the forefront of your mind. To have it meddle in your own brain, letting a second will be known. What the warning smell of an alpha’s rut was, like the one that was definitely choking the apartment he was in now. But his nose stayed blind to it. His mind stayed silent. Just like it had always been. And what it would always be.
It wasn’t that being un-presented was exceedingly rare, but when he had been the only one in his first year of high school to end the year without a second gender, he had certainly received a few raised eyebrows. Katsuki hadn’t even been bothered when he didn’t present at seventeen either, his father hadn’t presented until he was twenty. But as his twenty fourth birthday passed, the blonde had accepted that he would simply remain un-presented in a world made of those slaved to a more primal instinct.
His doctors had assured him that he was completely fine; nothing physically was wrong, just that some people never “felt the urge” to present. That their secondary genders were more stubborn, deciding to stay hidden forever and that there were still lots of options dating and career wise. None of it had mattered to the blonde, he had already known what he wanted from his life and nothing was going to stand in his way.
If anything, his secondary gender could stay hidden for all he cared. Smelling all those extra scents and being out of his mind once every few months would just make life more difficult for him.
He was thankful for his status as un-presented every time he saw Eijiro and Sero cover their noses in disgust, wrinkling at the slightest shift in someone’s emotion. Thankful every time he heard a sob coming from Denki’s closed door, the blonde’s agonizing heat hitting him harder each time he spent it alone. Thankful that his body agreed that he was stronger than all those fucking smells and kept him the fuck out of that mess. It seemed like a lot of effort. Effort that he was more than fine not having to exert.
Distantly, Katsuki could hear the other bedroom door open and his roommate’s soft padding footsteps towards the kitchen.
“Did you go out last night?” Eijiro yawned, lowering his nose close to Katsuki’s ears. The blonde had long since given up trying to enforce personal space with Eijiro, the idiot alpha always cramming himself into whatever area Katsuki inhabited, no matter how small. He would consider it a good day if he could keep the brushes of the redhead's arms against him to less than ten. Katsuki rarely had good days.
“Good morning to you too, idiot.” The blonde grumbled, snatching his now steaming espresso pot from the stove, pouring a mug, and trying not to notice the heat of the other’s body against his back.
Eijiro reached over Katsuki to grab a cereal box from a cabinet above the stove and the blonde had to fight to hold back the shiver that threatened to zip down his spine.
Moving in with Kirishima after college had been a good idea in concept. Despite his size, Eijiro was for the most part quiet, helpful, and clean, even if the kitchen was always a nightmare after he tried to cook. Their work schedules more than often tended to match up, so there was never any fighting over too much noise being made early in the morning or late at night. Katsuki didn’t hate having the hulking redhead around, would even dare to call him his best friend, and Eijiro was patient with Katsuki’s outbursts, so he had been the perfect roommate on paper.
However, the tricky little snag that had developed off that paper was the absolutely soul ending crush the blonde had been harboring on the redhead for about three years now. One that Katsuki seemed to love teasing himself with. Now, instead of sharing a disgusting but large college house where he could hide from the other, they shared a much cleaner apartment that was a quarter of the size with a whopping four rooms. An apartment that Eijiro felt as though he could just inhabit . Not that he couldn't per say, but Katsuki had quickly discovered that he no longer had anywhere to hide the first time Kirishima guided him two inches to the left by the waist so he could get a pan from the cabinet. Nowhere that he could hide without drawing attention to his burning face anyway.
He turned from glaring holes into the stove to see the redhead still watching him, silently waiting for him to answer his question. Katsuki’s eyes narrowed.
“No Eijiro, we were literally watching a movie together before you left to go out with Mina. How you two go out on Sundays is fucking beyond me.”
Katsuki rarely went out when it was just Eijiro and Mina; the two alphas simply egged each other into drinking more while he sat in the corner, nursing a single drink and the hope that the redhead’s leg would brush his for just a moment. He thought Kirishima would have remembered leaving him on the couch. Maybe he had drank more than the blonde thought.
Despite the facts being presented to Eijiro, the taller man simply blinked at Katsuki, his eyes a bit owlish as he cocked his head.
“You didn't have someone over? Which- you know…is fine.”
Coffee sloshed in Katsuki’s cup as he half-failed to contain the choke that curled in his throat, trying not to take stock of the echo of a growl that peppered Eijiro's words.
“When was the last time I had anyone over, shitty hair?
It had actually been exactly two and half years ago. After he realized just how much he wanted the redhead to bend him over the kitchen island and fuck him, the ability to stomach having anyone else touch him was more than Katsuki could bear.
“What the fuck is your problem anyway?” Bakugou ground out, feeling the hair on the back of his neck stand on end as he pushed past Eijiro to their living room. The raging pain in his skull made it impossible to focus on finding his briefcase, all memory of where he could have left it left behind in the kitchen.
After he had rummaged through everything except the damn couch cushions, he raised his head to lock eyes with Eijiro again, the other still standing in the doorway. And Katsuki finally noticed that the redhead was wearing the idiotic heart emoji pyjama pants that Denki had insisted on giving the whole friend group last Christmas. He also noticed that it was the only thing Eijiro was wearing, his defined chest salaciously on display.
Why was the idiot even still staring at him? Had the knot on his dick finally traveled all the way to his brain? The headache in his brain only deepend, forcing the blonde to close his eyes to block out the pain.
“You just…smell different is all.” Eijiro’s voice was softer as he took a few steps closer to Katsuki, his nostrils flaring wide.
“I don't know, it must be you then,” He could feel his voice fraying slightly as the redhead advanced, but Katsuki pressed on. “You're the one with that stupid smelling shit all weird.”
He bristled more than usual under Eijiro's continued undivided attention, his stomach flipping over again. Every thought in his brain screamed at the blonde to shove the redhead away, but every instinct in his body froze, leaving him breathing shakily under the scrutiny. Eijiro’s face was so close now, his eyes searching for something, leaving a tangible trail across the blonde’s face.
“Must be my rut coming up; got me smelling things.” Kirishima muttered after a moment, sniffing the air close to the blonde’s temple again before pausing and shaking his head. “Sorry if I'm stinking up the place, I'll go put some patches on.”
The redhead turned and it finally felt like Katsuki could breathe, his lungs collapsing before filling wildly. He gave himself exactly one gasp before he tried to save his own burning face.
“It doesn’t matter to me, I literally can't smell you anyway, shitty hair. Other than that fucking hangover breath!”
Eijiro let loose a laugh on his way back to his own room, the sunlight shining across the alpha’s bed before the other slid his door shut.
And like that, order was restored. Even if Katsuki felt a little hot under his shirt collar as he drifted to the bathroom. The fluorescent lights burned and sent little light flares flying across the backs of Katsuki’s eyelids as he reached for the medicine cabinet. Numb fingers fumbled with the stupid childproof lock of the extra strength painkillers, Katsuki swearing as he almost dropped the bottle to the sink.
Finally, he heard the click of the plastic opening and shoved two pills into his mouth. They had tests to run at the lab today; he didn’t have time to call out or be at anything better than a hundred percent. Plus, staying in the apartment and having to hear Eijiro slowly get ready for the physio clinic sounded like a personal hell he didn’t want to stick around for. Katsuki could be respectful. He would keep his feelings to himself. But even his patience had its limits.
Eijiro had omegas practically throwing themselves at him every time they went out. Not only did Eijiro look like he was carved from marble, his personality made him an absolute magnet for any unmated omega within a ten foot radius. They circled around the alpha, gawking at his muscles, letting him know how strong he was, how much they always pictured an alpha like him. Even though Eijiro seemed to be the only one to not pick up on the sheer amount of omegas that orbited him, their incessant eye batting and cooing always made the blonde feel sick to his stomach. Despite the feeling of vomit in his throat half the time, he kept his mouth shut.
The redhead wanted kids. He had only ever mentioned it to Katsuki once, when they had gotten particularly drunk, but the way Eijiro’s eyes had gone soft, his whole body lighting up at the idea of being a father, was what kept Katsuki's feelings stuck to the bottom of his throat. Katsuki couldn't carry children, not without being an omega. Even some male betas could carry under rare circumstances. But he would have needed to present in any sense of the word.
He wouldn't take that future from the redhead, not when it was someone who Katsuki knew would be a great father. Eijiro deserved to be happy with someone who could actually make his future dreams come true. So he would swallow those feelings and watch from a distance, just happy to be allowed to bask in the glow that was Eijiro.
Even if he did get particularly unbearable around his rut, the weird smelling and whining was just the beginning of it. In college, there had been school resources for them. Heat and rut houses had littered the campus, making it easy for Katsuki to pretty much ignore his best friend’s almost quarterly meltdown. However, once moving into the same apartment, all those barriers disappeared. They had taken to marking down the anticipated week in a thin red line on the calendar, Katsuki usually staying with his parents or Sero those days.
The first rut after they had moved in together, Katsuki had tried to stay. Had insisted that he stay so the redhead didn’t entirely forget to eat. Had even been a bit curious what lay underneath Eijiro’s cheerful demeanor. However, he immediately found the walls weren't nearly as thick as they had originally thought. Slick sounds of his best friend fucking his rut aid seeped through the walls both day and night as the blonde tried to get anything done. The redhead’s voice had been hoarse through the door the entire week, the way he had growled his words making the hair on Katsuki's neck stand on end.
In a moment of weakness, one night, Katsuki had reached between his own legs, cock aching as he let himself imagine that he was the rut aid Eijiro was snarling against.
He had never cum harder or felt more ashamed in his entire life.
So he spent the rut weeks away. He stayed with other people and desperately tried not to imagine Eijiro all alone in their apartment, when something called inside him, telling him that he could take such better care of the alpha.
Making a mental note to pack his duffel bag when he got home, Katsuki almost tripped over the briefcase he had somehow left by the front door instead of his usual chair. After he hurriedly made sure everything was in the correct place, Katsuki shoved his feet into his shoes and threw the door open.
“I'm heading out, idiot. I'll see you later.”
He hoped his words didn’t come out as rushed as he felt.
“Don't work so hard you forget to eat!” Eijiro called through his door after the blonde, who rolled his eyes in return.
Katsuki knew he would check. The redhead had done so on more than one occasion, chastising the blonde for overworking himself in the lab and not taking care of his body. He had tried to make it seem like that doting, piercing glare Kirishima had worn hadn’t done anything to him, though the burning fire in his stomach always sent him scrambling to his room anyway.
Not deigning to give the redhead an answer, Katsuki sighed through his already growing irritation and wished his headache would disappear quickly as he stepped out the door.
~~~~~~
Work, like every other day, was a nightmare. It hadn’t even gotten to lunch and Katsuki’s hand had already started to cramp from pipetting all of his repeat samples. Their tests kept coming back inconclusive or just flat out corrupted for some unknown reason, which only added to the blonde’s already growing frustration.
It was their third time retrying the same type of samples when Katsuki felt his hand twinge for the umpteenth time, forcing his fingers to spasm around the button and dispelling sample liquid all over his desk. Katsuki let a growl rise from his throat, shoving the pipetter down and grabbing the nearest basin of towels meant for spills.
He was just lucky that they weren’t working with hazardous materials today.
“You alright there man?” Sero asked from his opposite station, his dark eyes watching as the blonde sopped up the liquid, threw the towels away, and slowly disinfected his work station. “You’ve been on edge all day today.”
Katsuki felt the hackles on his neck rise, the familiar bristle of his anger brushing past his shoulders but shoved it down, forcing the rage out in a breath. The blonde’s sour mood wasn’t helped by the fact that his headache hadn’t let up, the painkillers only succeeding in giving him a measly twenty minutes without his head feeling like a spike was going through it.
“Can I crash at yours next week? Eijiro's rut is coming up.”
“Rough,” The brunette made a face while he grimaced. “Sure thing.”
A moment of silence passed between the two, Katsuki’s breathing slowly returning to normal as he picked the pipetter back up.
“You know…”
“Fucking can it.” Katsuki growled, willing his hands to stop shaking. He could hear the pity rising in Sero’s voice. “I’m not telling him.”
There weren’t many things that Katsuki regretted saying. He spoke wildly and proudly, other’s thoughts and feelings be damned. But, just like anything, Katsuki eventually found that there was a limit. It had been after one terrible night, one where Eijiro and Katsuki had fallen asleep while watching a movie on the couch. The blonde had awoken to Eijiro’s unconscious whines, the redhead pawing at his pants as he tried to nuzzle closer to Katsuki’s leg in his sleep. And the blonde had almost passed away in that very spot.
Katsuki had to tell someone and the brown haired idiot had been the only one at work that morning, a more than ready and willing listener as the blonde finally poured out his heart. Years of longing and pent up feelings had flowed out of him like a tap he couldn’t turn off, each new story and thought had sprung from his mouth unbidden.
Sero was his friend, despite what he would ever say to the brunette’s face, and Katsuki knew that the beta kept secrets like a locked vault. He had only probed when the blonde sulked a bit too long, complained just a bit too much. But he hated the feeling of being flayed open whenever he walked into work. With no social group to hide behind, no barrier between Sero’s analyzing eyes and the truth Katsuki refused to ever put into words.
“I’m just saying,” Sero trailed, throwing his hand in the air. “You could just-”
“What don’t you understand about can it, you dumbass?” His shoulders tensed, the feeling starting to spread across his whole chest. His head fucking throbbed. “I’m never going to fucking say anything.”
“Is it finally ‘tell the blonde idiot to confess’ time again? I’ve been waiting for this all morning.”
Like a bug out of the woodwork, Shinsou sidled his way to leaning on the edge of Katsuki’s station, his signature sleepy smirk setting a lick of rage down Katsuki’s spine.
“God, can we talk about anything fucking else?”
The blonde gripped his pipetter even tighter, distantly wondering how much force he’d have to exert to crack the glass.
“What, like how our samples keep failing? Yea, because that’s so much more uplifting.” Shinsou’s eyes glinted mischievously as he ran a hand through his hair. “Maybe the samples can smell your sexual frustration. They won’t succeed until you actually talk to Eijiro.”
He was getting riled up, he could feel it. More than usual. The blonde’s head was pounding as he closed his eyes and tried to breathe through the anger that had started to color his face.
“Whatever, we can just finish this shit after lunch right?” Katsuki all but threw his pipetter down, starting to feel his stomach claw at his insides.
Sero sucked a breath of air through his teeth before pointing to a small paper sign hung on the lab door.
“Not today. It’s intern’s day today.”
Katsuki felt the urge to scream as he threw his head back, groaning while he pulled himself from his chair to stomp to the door. The brightly colored piece of paper stared right back at him, joyfully asking him to lose a half day of work at the last minute.
Fucking intern’s day.
Alphas and omegas usually weren’t allowed in the lab for extended periods of time; their stupid scent oils always got into the samples and used to make the lab lose days worth of tests. So the lab floor was usually strictly inhabited by betas and un-presented, making sure the lab could always run at full capacity. Katsuki had come to love the quiet working atmosphere of the lab, and had happily embraced the way most of his days were cleansed of the scent controlled extras.
But all the interns that worked in the more management side of the company were allowed into the lab on the first day of internship season, to look around the lab and speak with the lab techs that they would be working alongside for the next few months.
Unfortunately, that meant the lab team had to work on samples that wouldn’t be affected. Which was basically nothing. So by the time Katsuki came back from lunch, his head was already steaming at the thought of having to waste the second half of his day. His foul mood only worsened when he caught sight of the new intern that was sitting at his station, their blue eyes too happy to be fucking real.
It only got worse from there when he spotted small but noticeable indents creased into the other’s neck.
A mating bite. Katsuki had to physically hold his eyes back from rolling. Sure, they weren’t totally taboo, but couldn’t just a ring do? And the kid looked fucking younger than him, why did she even have a full mate already?
“Katsuki, right?” The girl stuck her hand out, a nervous energy radiating off of her in waves. “My name is Flora. I’m so excited to get to see the lab and get to meet you!”
Katsuki grunted in acknowledgement looking pointedly at the fact that she was sitting in his seat before taking her hand and giving it a single shake. Flora squeaked before throwing herself out of the blonde’s chair, scrambling out of the way as Katsuki threw himself down. Just a moment passed before he hooked a foot under a spare stool, scooting it closer to him and throwing a hand out for her. He hadn’t been aware that someone could smile as wide as Eijiro until he saw her grin.
The afternoon passed faster than Katsuki had thought. Despite her initial annoyance, Flora seemed to know how to actually stay out of the way. She almost blended right into the background of what the blonde had set his mind to do that day. Though it was only just almost.
What kept her from being completely tolerable was her incessant talking. The girl simply just never stopped speaking, her mouth constantly spitting out useless information to the blonde as he tried to not just roll his eyes. But he knew better. He nodded at what seemed to be the right times, gave a hum every now and then. All to give the illusion of paying attention, whatever she was spewing was going in one ear and out the other. He just tried to not let it stop his work.
He was actually able to prep the stable samples that he would need for tomorrow before deep cleaning his station, resolutely ignoring Sero’s knowing gaze as he caught wind of what Flora had been yapping about. Katsuki didn’t want to hear about her mate. Didn’t want to know about how happy her life was, about how they were so in love, and how her alpha was taking such good care of her.
“And what about you?”
A bucket of cold water dumped over Katsuki’s head, his brain finally snapping to attention at her question. Flora was twiddling with her hands as she watched expectantly, her wide eyes crinkling up at the corners.
“What about me?” He felt his voice dip into the slightest growl, his eyes narrowing on her face. Though her pleasant expression didn’t waver in the slightest.
There were only five minutes left to his day, couldn’t she just leave him be?
“Well, you must have had plans with your alpha this past weekend!”
“My- my what ?”
It was Flora's turn to narrow her eyes, cogs seemingly turning in her head.
“Your…”
Her eyes became saucer wide and Katsuki could see her peek between the collar of his shirt, her gaze burning into his unblemished neck.
“Oh- I’m so sorry, I thought that I had sworn I smelled, like, an alpha on you.”
Flora stumbled a few steps backward, her face becoming a light shade of pink as she coughed.
“Gosh, ah- nevermind. S-sorry about that!”
She hurried away and the blonde did his best to ignore Sero’s and Shinsou’s snickers from behind him.
“What did you say to her, jeez?” The brunette teased, his smirk reaching a new height. “She ran out of here like you personally described how we worked with those decomposing samples the other week.”
Katsuki knew that there were more teases being flung his way, but the sounds were muffled as he continued to stare at the lab door. It felt like his brain had shut down on him, the whole control tower to his body going offline. He barely felt his own mouth open when he swung his gaze to the two of them.
“Do I smell like an alpha?”
The smiles slid from both their faces as Sero and Shinsou glanced at each other, looking just the slightest bit confused. After a minute, Shinsou shrugged, a hand sweeping back to tousle his shaggy hair.
“Don’t look at me, you know I smell just as much as you do.”
“I guess, a little?” Sero cocked his head, tapping a finger to his chin. “But you know my sense of smell isn’t much better than yours. I mean, if I had to say anything, you smell like Eijiro. But you two live together, so it might just be that.”
A lance of anger shot through his chest though it was joined with a curl of something darker. Something that Katsuki didn't really want to think about.
Eijiro’s scent?
He didn’t know what the redhead smelled like. The thought had crossed his mind once before, one night when he had seen an omega hanging off the redhead. They had gone on and on for what seemed like hours about how comforting Eijiro smelled, how they wondered what he would smell like without his patches on. And a dark spike of what Katsuki wouldn't call jealousy had sent him storming home, the thrumming in his body forcing him to run basically the whole way there. He had sat in the apartment then, alone and wondering what comfort smelled like to him. What smell he thought the redhead would invoke.
It wasn't that he was totally nose blind, he just couldn't smell the dumb pheromones. One of his favorite smells was always the turn of fall in the trees. The crisp, cool air flowing through the mountains during his hikes. The warmth of cinnamon from his favorite cafe, the one that always made a correct flat white, not some latte wannabe. But as the blonde had sprawled on the couch, imagining all of his favorite smells, none of them seemed enough for Eijiro.
Not that he wasn't sure the redhead did actually smell good, but none of those smells seemed big enough. Like they could encompass just how largely Eijiro stood, how brightly he smiled, or how warmly he regarded everyone. The idea of sunshine floated through his mind. If sunshine and the universe could ever have a smell themselves.
Though as soon as that idea crept into Katsuki's mind, he had banished the whole train of thought, resolving to try and never think about what Eijiro smelled like again. Regardless, it was easier to not be able to smell him. If he could, the blonde wasn't sure he'd be able to keep his mouth shut. Maybe it was for the best that he just stayed blind to it all.
Unbidden, a hand reached up to the side of his neck as his gaze returned to the lab door. A sinking feeling settled into his stomach, and for the first time, Katsuki wished that he could feel fang scars in the smooth skin of his neck.
~~~~~~
Despite what Katsuki would call his best efforts, the blonde succeeded in doing nothing more than riling himself up more and more on his commute home. Each stop on the train introduced a totally new thought into his brain, each person that brushed against him sent his mind reeling into a new version of what was happening.
Katsuki was almost convinced that it could have been an accident. They lived together, their apartment wasn’t that large, and there were even some times they found each other’s clothes in the laundry. It would have only made sense that they would have picked up each other's scents stronger than the rest of their pack. Sure, the two of them were close, but there was no way the redhead had known about this right?
That line of thinking stuck like a fly in honey in Katsuki’s still aching head, the blonde turning that thought over and over in his head as his eyes shifted around the train car. Could each new face that he saw, smell him? Did they smell Eijiro on him? Did they think that he was Eijiro’s? Had the redhead known that Katsuki left every day smelling like him? Or was it just around his rut? Did Eijiro want him to smell like him?
Was Eijiro scenting him?
That possibility made the blonde’s heart pound in his chest, suddenly extra glad that he had no pheromones, because he was sure he’d be choking the air in the car with confusion and stress. The redhead wouldn’t possibly scent him, would he? What reason would he have to do that? Was the idiot staking some kind of friend alpha claim on him, one that he had no right to do?
Not that his whole body didn’t feel weak at the notion of people thinking he was Eijiro’s, but anger dripped through his chest at the idea that the redhead thought he could do something like that without letting Katsuki know. To do something so underhanded. To overstep that line; the line Katsuki had so carefully kept in place. He didn't know why, but the thought made his heart ache.
Maybe he was overreacting, maybe it was nothing. His head throbbed again as he stumbled towards the door of the train, throwing himself into a full sprint as soon as the door slid open.
Their apartment building quickly came into view, Katsuki’s feet flying over the concrete in an almost all out sprint to their front door. Whether his rushing was to be able to grill the redhead faster or to make sure no one else could smell him, Katsuki wasn’t even sure. It seemed like everything else was moving in slow motion around him, the elevator too slow to come to the lobby, his legs too slow beneath him as he hurtled up the stairs instead, the deadbolt of his front door too slow to unlock.
He stormed into the living room, sweat gathering on the back of his neck as gasping breaths heaved from his lungs. Just as he meant to open his mouth, the rich smell of meat wafted into his nose.
Despite almost burning the kitchen down more than once, the redhead had proved to be an adequate cook and even started cooking on the days he knew the blonde was exhausted from work. Though Katsuki would always insist that he needed to cook something other than simply meat. He could see the stew already set out on the kitchen island, steam still rising from the pot with two settings placed in front of it.
His stomach warmed in response and his legs suddenly felt slightly jello-y. It almost made the hackles on his neck lower. Almost.
“Hey Kats-” The redhead popped his head around the corner, his smile immediately falling when he made eye contact with the still steaming blonde.
That's right , a deep dark part of him preened at Eijiro's slack jaw, he should know something was wrong .
“What do I smell like?”
Katsuki felt as though his whole vision had gone red. His hands trembled at his side as he fought the urge to curl them into fists.
God his head fucking hurt.
“What- I don’t - what’re you-” Eijiro suddenly wouldn’t meet Katsuki’s gaze, his eyes darting around the rest of the apartment instead.
“What do I smell like, Eijiro?” He gritted through his teeth, voice hoarse in his throat. “And why did our new intern ask if I had weekend plans with my alpha?”
Eijiro looked like he was ready to collapse on the floor, his feet shuffling as an almost imperceptible whine escaped his mouth.
“I- I’m so sorry Katsuki.” The redhead sounded defeated, his whole body leaning forward, hiding his face behind his unstyled hair. “I just…couldn’t help myself. Remember that night, a few months ago, you came home from the bar? You kept going on and on about those shitty alphas who wouldn’t leave you alone. You were so upset, and I had been so frustrated that I- that Mina and I hadn’t been there to help you like we usually do.”
Kirishima started to wring his hands as he paused, wide red eyes lifting to meet with Katsuki’s. Those eyes pleaded with the blonde, but Katsuki simply stayed silent, crossing his arms across his chest.
“I didn’t want anyone else giving you a hard time…” Eijiro’s face had turned bright red, his mouth opening and closing a few times with no words coming out. “And you said you couldn’t ever smell me anyway…so I just- I kind of- started leaving my scent out in the open around you more regularly.”
Katsuki could feel his mouth start to gape open, the truth slapping him across the face. But he wasn’t done. The rage bubbling under his skin needed it. He needed to hear the redhead admit it.
“And by out in the open, you mean scenting me ?”
It felt like his insides were going to crawl their way out his ears, the pulsing reaching an unbearable amount in his skull. He forced his eyes open despite the pain and locked his gaze with Eijiro’s. The redhead almost looked like he was shaking. Maybe that was just Katsuki.
“Yes.”
“Are you serious Kirishima?”
He couldn't tell why he was so upset, why it felt like his skin was crawling , just itching to be mad at something, someone. A part of him deep inside preened at the idea of having Eijiro’s scent all over him, even if he couldn't smell it. Knowing that he had walked around for months with the redhead lingering with him. That anyone who smelled him, saw the two of them and made their own assumptions. But then the wave of anger rushed back over him tenfold. Eijiro had done so without his knowledge. Had done it to ‘just help a friend out’; like he always did. Like everything the redhead did, it was always for friends. No matter how much the blonde wanted to wish it was for a different reason.
But Katsuki kept his feelings in check. Had always kept himself in line. Had watched omegas surround the alpha, had stood to the side and made sure that he never even looked like he was going to stand in the way of Eijiro finding his own happy life. So why did the redhead feel like he could just so casually do this to him? The idiot was tramping all over that line Katsuki had so deftly set, not even thinking of what his actions would look like. Of how they could make Katsuki feel. And it made the blonde furious.
“Katsuki, I’m sorry. Please wait.” Eijiro followed him across the living room, the blonde making a dash for his bedroom door. “Katsuki, will you-”
“ Don’t fucking talk to me. I’m mad at you Kirishima.” He snapped, sliding himself into his room and facing the lingering redhead.
A question sat within Eijiro’s wide eyes, one that jolted through Katsuki and straight to his stomach, the redhead’s breathing seemingly just as ragged as his own. Eijiro had the audacity to poke a single fang out from under his lip, the tooth worrying into the skin in a way that made Katsuki want to reach up and smooth it over. Instead, he threw his door shut and stormed deeper into his room.
As soon as the door had shut though, all of the bravado that Katsuki could feel holding himself up with vanished. He crumpled to his bed, head hitting his pillow and staring out the darkening window. A rock sat in Katsuki’s chest; guilt from his anger flowing through him. Though he’d never admit it, in his deepest dreams, he had actually always imagined what it would be like to be scented by the redhead. In his dreams, he could smell the lingering scent on his skin as he went about his day. Could envelop himself in the redhead’s smell like he heard Denki gush about. Could scent Eijiro back and make sure everyone knew exactly who the redhead was with.
But the idea that Eijiro had only been scenting him to get others to stay away made his stomach boil. Had made his stomach curl in such a way that he wasn’t sure if throwing up would be enough. He’d have to empty his organs on the floor to feel rid of the slimy coil that had taken root in his core.
Katsuki sighed as he rubbed his eyes, his vision going blurry as his palms scrubbed his skin. Fingers carded through his tousled hair and came away sweaty, the blonde making a face as he shook out his hand, wiping it on the sheets in disgust. He let his head flop to the mattress, letting his eyes slip closed. It was only then that he even remembered the buzzing behind his lids, the pressure pressing in and making his face scrunch.
He groaned in defeat. Katsuki had wanted to try and get some more painkillers before he had holed himself into his room for the night. His body wasn’t even that tired, but his mind was exhausted from the pain and the day at work he had. Protests from his stomach arose as he rolled over, making to get up from the mattress before Katsuki stopped dead.
Eijiro was sitting on the floor just outside; he could see the shadow still under the crack in his door. The blonde sighed low in his throat again. Not wanting to have to face the stubborn alpha again, he settled back into his sheets, throwing off his clothes from the work day. The cool sheets enveloped his heated skin as he slid beneath them.
He’d only wait out the redhead stationed at his door then he’d clean off the day and properly get ready for bed. His teeth needed to be brushed and his mother would have a fit if she found out that he didn’t wash his face before bed and broke out. Hunger pangs also reminded him to eat, though his mind was already sinking into the soft pillow beneath him.
He didn’t have the fucking energy for anything more than rolling over, his gaze lingering on the shadow under his door. Katsuki could already feel his eyelids slipping closed.